Method of obnamewtistg brick



J. L. BUCKLEY- 7 METHOD OF ORNAMENTING BRICK.

APPLICATION FILED uov.a. 1915.

1,1 95,649. PatentedAug. 22,1916.

mire? 1 ;mm 1f Jess L. Bucmzv.

JosnPH L. BUcnLnY, or DAVENPORT, Iowa.

METHOD OF ORNAMENTING BRICK Specification'of Letters Patent. Iatentefl Aug, 22, 1916,

Application filed November 8, 1915. Serial No. 60,260.

Tosall whom, it may concern:

Be it known that l, JOSEPH L; Buc ner,

a citizen of the United States of America,

and resident of Davenport, Scott county,

5 I0wa,.have invented a certain, new and use ful Improvement-in Methods of Ornament ing Brick, of which the following is a specification. i r V My invention relates to ainethod for oro namenting'bricks, in which process is involved the use, of the ordinary stifi-mud brickmachine of'the type-that produces a continuously formed-columnof clay that is cut into brick size, ready for'burning, and has for; its ObJect the prov sion of a method for embossing or proyectmg f gures ofornamentation, in relief, on one or nore faces of the clay column, whereby a finished brick-is produced, having one or more of its faces ornamented in simulation of the appearance of oak bark-" 'To rcmove the undesirable slick, silvery surface formed on the clay column by the passage "of the moistened mass through the smooth die, and to produce the presentday brick with the much desired roughened surface, it is the common practice to remove a slice of considerable thickness from the upper surface and edges of the column (as thesesurfaces become the exposed faces of bark brick, the surface is also highly ornamented by projectingportions of the surface, ofvconsiderable area, in sharply defined relief; with araw, more or less ragged surface, as a background. While a design of most any desired co'iifigurationcould be embossed in relief on the surface of the i 1. ,1 brick b bj ting! each individual brick to the pressure of a die press, the operation is not only expensive,but the product would at oftentimes prove unsatisfactory due to the v lack of variety, as each brick would be, an-

.exact duplicate of the other. This lack of variety would prove exceptionally objecytionable in a designsimulating oak bark.

I bll Iii-producing oakbark brick, the slick,

shiny surface of the claycolumn mustrbe completely separated from the column. This 1s best accomplished by scraping the exposed surfa es of the column as it passes fromthe are. The scraps or loosened portions released by thescraping apparatus, when thescrapmg apparatus is properly p0sitioned with respect to the ed es of the die;

take the form of elongated Ships or shavings, with their edges more or less curled up, and which arrange, themselves with more or less regularity in rows transversely of the surface scraped. \Vhile a complete separation will thus be elfected between the scrapings and the body of the clay column,

the moist sticky consistency of the clay mass, afi'ords means whereby the shavings or scrapings retain their position on the column as assumed upon leaving the scraping apparatus.

Tostraighten out the more or less curled up edges of the shavings, and to more securely reunite them to the body of the colunm, whereby they will not become displaced when subjected to the action of the cutting wires, in reducing the column to brick sizefthey are subjected to pressure immediately upon formation, and after leaving the brick-size cutting wires they are again subjected to pressure to cause them to firmly adhere to thebody of the finished brick and to square up. any edges that may have become sl ghtly torn up or roughened by the action of the cuttingwires, thus projecting the shavings in sharp bas-relief from the surface of the brick, with no two brick ornamented with exactly the same configuration.

The mechanism for ornamentmg the face of the brick by giving to it the semblance of oak bark ,may be used with brick machine of the ordinary stiff mud type. In Fig. 1 of the drawing is shown the perspective view of the device as applied to an ordinary stiff mud brick machine, partsof which are diagrammatically shown. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the ornamental configuration in the processof formation.

The preferred: form of the scraping and pressing means are shown in the drawing as consisting. of the brackets 7 which may be secured to any convenient point on the head 3, of the brick machine (a broken away section only of the head being shown) as at 8. These brackets maybe of angular form, and extending through the vertical members 9, are the threaded eye bolts 10.

thickness, I

Extending across the opening in the usual die plate 4, and close proximity to the upper horizontal edge thereof, is the scraper 11, which may 'consistof a piano wire secured at its cud. to the eye bolts 10, through the medium of which it can be stretched taut by the aid of the nuts L2 To prevent bowing of the wire scraper at its center, to insure shavings or scrapings of uniform provide the angle shaped bracket 13, which is secured at one end to the head 3, and has its other end in contact with the wire at about its center of length. The free end of this bracket may be made to extend to a point on a plane with the lower side of the wire scraper, and may have its end drawn to a knife edge so that it will sever the transversely extending shavings into shorter lengths and thus more closely simulate the appearance of bark. The edges of the column are" similarly scraped by the scraping wires 14, which may also be tightly secured in close proximity to the vertical edges of the die plate 4, by eye-bolts passing through the horizontal member 15, of the bracketl, at one end and to the bracket 16, at the other end.

When the clay column, which is expelled through the die plate 4:, in the usual manner, comes in contact with these scrapers, the surface is peeled off in shavings-like formations having irregular edges, more or less curled up, crinkled longitudinally, and arranged in a general transverse direction in substantially parallel rows as shown at a a a.

When the scrapers are positioned at too great a distance from the edge of the die in toward the opening, they function more as cutters, severing an unbroken slice from the column, thereby negativing the very end sought, that is, the formation of the shavings-like portions with their irregular outlines, crinkled surface, and curled up edges. The discovery that the wires or cutters could be positioned at a point relative to the surface of the column where they would cease to slice ofi an unbroken mass, but

function as scrapers, bringing forth the disconnected, shaving-like formation, I consider the important feature of my invention. The exact point at which the slice separated, will disintegrate into the much desired disconnected shaving-like formation is dependent in. a large measure on the percentage of moisture in the clay and speed of travel of the column, it"being the aim to produce as thick a shavings as possible. The brackets 7 and 16, may therefore be adjusta-bly secured by providing same with the slotted holes 17, or by any other suitable means, whereby the scrapers may be properly positioned relative to the surface of the column.

Innnediately upon converting the surface and the surface more or less dergo the process of cutting to brick-size .without appreciable displacement or injury.

This pressure applying means may consist of the bracket 18 or the like, secured in any suitable manner to the frame 19. Hinged to this bracket at about its center over the clay column is the roller 2Q, pro

vided with the usual lambs wool covering.

The parts may be made of a weightthat gravity alone will produce the necessary pressure of the roller on the shavings, or the pressure may be produced by the use of an ordinary spring hinge.

After the column has passed through the usualbrick-size cutting device as shown at (3, the surface is again subjected to the weighted roller 21, suitably mounted to the rear of the cutting frame, whereby the shaving formations are firmly reunited to the body of the brick and any unevenness or roughness that may have been caused by the cutting wires is smoothed out and obliter: ated, leaving the ornamentation clean cut and in sharp relief. The pressure applying means to act upon the edges of the column may consist of' the rollers 22, secured to the frame in any suitable manner as by the bracket 23.

If it be desired to ornament the face of the finished brick but not the ends, the 'rollers 22 may be removed and thescrapers 14, adjusted farther in from the vertical ends of the die plate, so that it will cut off an unbroken slice of the column, permitting same to drop to the floor, upon which it may be returned to the mixing machine. The smooth, shiny surface of the edges of the column- (which become the ends of the finished brick) will thus be removed, leaving a raw, more or less roughened surface.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new is:

1. The method herein described of making ornamental-faced brick, consisting in continuously forming a column of the plastic clay, continuously forming upon one face of the column a series of shaving-like fragments and irregularly spacing said fra ments along said face, then reuniting the fragments to said face by pressure, the pressure being sufficient to only attach the fragments to the column and not to obliterate them, thereby leaving the fragments in relief on the face of the column, and then severing the column into the desired sizes.

2. The method herein described of making the column a seriesof irregularly-shaped. and irregularly-spaced shaving-like fragments, then applying suflicient pressure to the fragments'to reunite them to the column, then severing the column into the de-- sired sizes, and finally rolling said face to smooth down the edges formed during'the sing ornamental-faced brick,

continuously forming a column of the plasregu larly -spaced bark-like pressing the fragments against the face fromwhich they severing of the. column.

3. The method herein described of mak tic clay, continuously roughening one face of the column and simultaneously producing thereon a series of irregularly-shapedand irshavings, then were formed, the pressure being suflicient toreunite the shavings the colation thereof.

umn without destroying the bark-like-con 26. figm- 4. The method'herein set forth of manufacturing ornamental-faced brick, consisting in continuously forming the'plastic clay into ,a column and continuously shaving a thin slice from one face of the column, the slice being of such thickness that it breaks up into irregular fragments by they act of severing the slice, the severed fragments being distributed at irregular distances from each other along the face of .the column, and then reuniting the fragments by pressure to. that face of the column from which they Were severed, whereby thefragments will be in consisting in clay, then severing a thin shavin relief 'and the surrounding surface ofthe face of the column will form a roughened back-ground, and severing the column into the desired sizes. v y

5. The method herein described of manu facturing ornamental-faced brick, consistin -1n contmuouslv forming the Plastic clay mto 49 a column, continuously severing or shaving a thin slice from one face of the columnand simultaneously breaking up said slice into irregularly-shaped fragments and distributingthem along the surface from which they were cut, and then reuniting the fragments to the column, leaving the fragments in re- -lief on said face, and severing the column into the desired sizes.

. 6. The method herein described of making ornamental-faced brick, consisting in continuously forming a column of the plastic ofi one face of the clay to thereby rOug hensaid face, said thin shaving by ness of the same and the nature of the mainto irregularly shaped fragalong the face mentsto said face by pressure, and severing, the column into brick-sized bloc-ks Signed by me at Davenport, Iowa, this 5th day of November, 1915.

' JOSEPH L. BUCKLEY.

reason of the thin-. 

